The present invention is directed to dispensing closures for fluid products such as beverages, food condiments and body lotions, to fluid dispensing packages that include such a closure, and to methods of making such a closure.
Fluid dispensing closures typically are comprised of a one-piece integrally molded structure that includes a base and a lid integrally connected to the base by one or more hinge elements. The base includes a dispensing opening through which product may be dispensed in the open position of the lid, and through which dispensing is blocked in the closed position of the lid. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,638,916, 5,489,035, and 5,913,435 illustrate dispensing closures of this type. A problem with dispensing closures of this type is that moisture can enter the area between the lid and the base in the closed position of the lid, forming unsightly moisture droplets or spots when the lid is opened by a user. It is a general object of the present invention to provide a dispensing closure, a dispensing closure and container package, and a method of making a dispensing closure in which provision is made for sealing the area between the closure base and the closure lid in the closed position of the lid to retard entry of moisture into this area.
A dispensing closure in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention includes a base, a lid and a pair of spaced hinge elements integrally connecting arcuate peripheral portions of the base and lid for pivoting the lid between a closed position overlying the base and an open position remote from the base. The base includes a deck wall, a skirt coupled to the deck wall and having at least one internal thread or bead for securing the closure to a container, and a dispensing opening in the deck wall. The lid includes a skirt that surrounds the deck wall in the closed position of the lid. The lid skirt has interruptions at the hinge elements, into which each hinge element is received in the closed position of the lid. The deck wall has an upstanding part-annular wall positioned around the arcuate peripheral portion of the deck wall adjacent to the hinge elements, and internally adjacent to an internal surface of the lid skirt at the hinge elements to retard entry of moisture through the lid skirt interruptions in the closed position of the lid. The lid skirt is free of engagement with the upstanding wall between the open and the closed positions of the lid, which is to say that the upstanding wall serves only to retard entry of moisture through the hinge interruptions in the lid skirt and does not affect the function of opening and closing the lid.
A dispensing closure in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, which maybe implemented separately from or more preferably in combination with other aspects of the invention, includes a base and a lid integrally connected to the base by at least one hinge element for pivoting the lid between a closed position overlying the base and an open position remote from the base. The base includes a deck wall, a skirt coupled to the deck wall and having one or more internal threads or beads for securing the closure to a container, and a dispensing opening in the deck wall. The lid includes a skirt that surrounds the deck wall in the closed position of the lid. There is an interruption in the lid skirt at the hinge element or elements, into which each hinge element is received in the closed position of the lid. The deck wall has a radially outwardly projecting bead extending around a peripheral portion of the deck wall for abutting internal engagement with an internal surface of the lid skirt to retard entry of moisture between the deck wall and the lid skirt in the closed position of the lid. An upstanding part-annular wall is positioned around a peripheral portion of the deck wall adjacent to the hinge element(s), and internally adjacent to an internal surface of the lid skirt at the hinge element(s), to retard entry of moisture through the interruption(s) in the lid skirt in the closed position of the lid.
Other aspects of the present invention contemplate a closure and container package that includes a container and a dispensing closure in accordance with the first or second aspect of the invention discussed above, and a method of making a dispensing closure by integrally injection molding the closure in accordance with the first or second aspect of the invention described above.